India
The world's most populous market, a pharmaceutical power, and one of the most complex customs regimes
India is at once an enormous market, the source of generics and active ingredients for the whole Union, and a country where tariffs and paperwork can stop a project. Negotiations on a free-trade agreement with the Union ended on 27 January 2026 and on 11 September 2026 the Commission proposed that the Council sign and conclude it. It is not yet in force. Anyone going in needs a local partner — not because a rule says so, but because distribution cannot be run without one.
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Recent trade news from this country's authorities and newsrooms — tariffs, taxes, sanctions, currency, imports and exports. Headlines are in the original language; the article opens at the publisher. We add no comment.
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Setting up a company
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Legal forms
- ·Director and residence
- ·Documents to incorporate
- ·How long registration takes
- ·Bank account
- ·What to watch for
Taxes
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Corporate income tax
- ·VAT
- ·VAT registration
- ·Withholding tax — dividends
- ·Withholding tax — royalties
- ·Payroll contributions
What it makes and needs
Generics and active pharmaceutical ingredients, textiles and clothing, gems and jewellery, chemicals, steel, rice and IT services.
Machinery and machining centres, medical technology, aerospace parts, chemical intermediates, luxury goods, and technology for renewables and waste management.
Importing into their market
Until the agreement with the Union is in force the Indian tariff applies and is material on finished goods; on top of the duty come a social welfare surcharge, from which some goods are exempt, and IGST on the import value. The total burden is therefore duty, surcharge and IGST, not the duty rate alone.
Mandatory BIS certification covers a growing list of products and requires manufacturer registration and the ISI mark; food needs FSSAI registration, medical devices CDSCO. The certificate is obtained by the manufacturer, not the importer.
The Legal Metrology rules require the importer's name and address, country of origin, net content, date of import and the maximum retail price (MRP) inclusive of all taxes on the consumer pack. A missing MRP is the commonest reason a consignment is held.
The importer must hold an Importer-Exporter Code from the DGFT; without it no declaration can be filed. The consignment needs an invoice, packing list, transport document, insurance and, depending on the goods, a licence, a BIS certificate or FSSAI registration.
Practical matters
English is the language of business, the courts and central government — the language barrier is effectively nil. Contracts are in English and Indian contract law rests on an English tradition.
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